Rescuing Food: Caitlin Murphy '17

Caitlin is a Finance Major and Sustainability Minor. Her capstone project is focused on implementing a comprehensive food waste repurposing program for Notre Dame’s campus.

Currently, Notre Dame dining halls donate unserved food to community shelters, primarily on weekdays. Utilizing the web-based platform Community Plates, Caitlin plans to expand the number of participating campus eateries and the number of recipients. She also plans to expand the number of days and times that deliveries are made by building a network of students and other members of the Notre Dame community who will serve as volunteer drivers.

“I chose to be the volunteer coordinator for Community Plates because I am passionate about finding innovative solutions to common problems like food waste,” said Caitlin. “Notre Dame is the first university that Community Plates is working with, and I think this is a wonderful opportunity not only to leave a positive impact at Notre Dame, but also to start a partnership that might inspire other universities across the country to do the same.”

“Caitlin’s project is a great example of the interdisciplinary and high-impact work that our students strive for,” said Professor Rachel Novick, Director of the Sustainability Minor. “She will be using her skills from her major as well as her sustainability coursework to research best practices in food repurposing, measure the success of this new program at Notre Dame, and optimize its performance.”